"The autism bill has already become one of the most
talked-about this session. SB55 passed through to the Senate Business and Labor
Committee and early this week was awaiting action on the Senate floor.

"Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, who voted in favor of SB55,
said the bill has introduced much-needed discussion on the treatment of the
devastating disease. Utah's rate of autism is 1 in 47 children, the highest in the
country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

With a huge colorful pit of 18,532 balls - each
representing a Utah child with autism - set up in the Capitol rotunda on
Friday, advocates hoped to drive home the impact of the complex brain disorder
on the state's families.

"A bill that would mandate insurance coverage for
autism therapy in Utah could be debated by the Senate within days, but whether
a compromise can be struck to pass HB55 remains in question.

"Sen. Brian Shiozawa, R-Çottonwood Heights - a
physician and past president of the Utah Medical Association - is sponsoring
SB55, designed to deliver insurance coverage for thousands of Utah's 18,532 children who have been diagnosed with autism.
Children age nine and younger could receive up to $50,000 in annual coverage,
while youth ages nine to 17 would qualify for $25,000 per year. Insurers oppose
a mandate."

I'm curious why Sen. Deidre Henderson and Sen. David Hinkins voted
against SB55. The Salt Lake Tribune has published a number of stories on
this issue. We're repeatedly told that Utah has
the nation's highest autism rate, one in every 47 children (and that also means
that for boys alone, it's one in every 32 boys). How do health officials
explain this?

Aren't Henderson and Hinkins the least bit bit concerned about
the future? Experts tell us that 80 percent of Americans with autism are under
the age of 18. Imagine the future when thousands of young adults with autism
age out of school and become dependent on the taxpayers of Utah for their
support and care. The cost of their care will bankrupt social services.

Dr. Brian Shiozawa knows how vital this issue is. A once rare
disorder is now so common that everyone someone with an autistic child and no
official can tell us why. The rates are based on studies of eight year olds,
not eighty year olds. No one has ever shown us a comparable rate among
adults--especially adults with classic autism whose symptoms are easily
recognized.

I would ask Dr. Shiozawa what he thinks about the numbers. How
does he explain the rate nationally and in Utah? What if the numbers continue
to increase? When is someone going to do something to address autism?

"Autism
risk might be cut nearly in half by making sure that mothers are taking
supplements containing folic acid, a B vitamin, at the time of conception and
in the early months of pregnancy.

"'This is important because this is
something women can do to reduce the risk of autism,' says Alycia Halladay,
Senior Director of Clinical and Environmental Sciences at Autism Speaks, an
advocacy group.

"The study, published in the new issue of the
Journal of the American Medical Association, followed 85,176 children born in Norway. Only 114, or 0.13%, of those children
had autistic disorder. But 0.2% of the children whose mothers did not take
folic acid had autism, compared to 0.1% of the children of mothers who took the
vitamin in pill form. All told, women who took folic acid supplements before
and early in pregnancy were 39% less likely to have autistic children. Stated
differently, of every 10 children who would have become autistic without the
folic acid supplements, 6 would be autistic with them."

My favorite line in this story is when
the lead researcher said, 'It doesn't prevent autism. Clearly some women who
take folic acid will go on to have an autistic child. But it is something that
women can do and can feel empowered to do.'

What does that mean? Compare these
statements to what the headline says.

Halladay also said, 'There are also factors
that increase the risk of autism, including infections early in pregnancy,
premature birth, and pesticide and chemical exposure.' WHAT CHEMICAL
EXPOSURE? She doesn't say.

"The state of
Minnesota is being urged to pay for an intensive -- and controversial -- form
of autism therapy for children on Medical Assistance, even though scientists
are uncertain of its effectiveness.

"The
recommendation, from a state advisory panel, would create the first
'autism-specific strategy' for thousands of families covered by the state
health care program for the poor and disabled.

"Under
the plan, which would need both legislative and federal approval, the state
would pay for a treatment known as early intensive behavior therapy, which
advocates say is the best hope for children with autism. In some cases, the
treatment can include up to 40 hours a week of one-on-one therapy and cost up
to $100,000 a year."

So
now intensive behavioral therapy is now unproven? Maybe the real problem
with autism is that it costs too much. No matter how much officials and
the media try to cover up what autism is doing to America's children, the one
deniable truth is that this disabled generation isn't going away.

Comments

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"In some cases, the treatment can include up to 40 hours a week of one-on-one therapy and cost up to $100,000 a year."

Did you ever feel we are living in a BLACK version of Alice in Wonderland?

When you deny reality and common sense I suppose it has to come to this.

How much would it cost to run a double blind placebo controlled study of "vaccination" vs NO "vaccination"?

Oh we really do not need to do one. India has done one for us.

"In New Delhi, India, prior to 2000, ASD/PDD (autism spectrum disorder/pervasive developmental disorder) symptoms were rare – typically only occurring in children who were vaccinated abroad. However, after the Indian pediatricians began recommending, in 2000, the addition of triple-dose Thimerosal-preserved Hib (Haemophilis influenza B) and Hep B (hepatitis B) vaccination programs to the existing Thimerosal-preserved triple dose DTP (diphtheria toxin, tetanus toxin and pertussis toxins) vaccination program recommended by the Government of India, the incidence of a childhood ASD/PDD diagnosis increased to 2 % to 4 % of vaccinated New Delhi children.” Doctor Paul King PhD

"Our question to the FDA and CDC agents who check our web site is: What are the psychiatric and ethical labels that can be applied to a society that allows a 10,000 fold increase in a devastating childhood condition and responds to it with denial, cover-up and persecution? No doubt you believe you will never be held accountable for ignoring your obligations as public servants. In that we trust you are as wrong as you are about the “safety and efficacy” of vaccines!"

Greg, glad you saw the article. Personally I think it blows anything else I've seen in major media out of the water. First of all, it actually mentioned severe autism, right off the bat. No socially awkward but brilliant geek stuff. Then, it actually mentioned Hallmeyer's study. She interviewed Herbert and Dr.s from MIND Institute and described it as a whole-body problem, not just a cognitive impairment (even gut problems and severe bowel disease were mentioned. They never mentioned vaccines specifically but they came very close. I don't think the average reader would know that the CDC stats are so behind- so the situation coculd of course be even worse. For me that article signals a very real change in the whole discussion of what is autism and why is autism.
Anderson Cooper, Matt Lauer, Dr. Snyderman, take that! The Canadian public has just been educated in a way that their silly shows/newspapers have not done! A big thanks to Postmedia News and Pauline Tam is in order, I think.

Hey Jen, thanks for the article. It's a good read, although I am not a fan of the insinuations that autism is caused by many complex factors, be it multiply genes interacting with unlimited environmental factors. I think this is the ultimate cop-out argument. I remember coming across a blog on the net that stated how ludicrous it is to think that all these genetic and environmental factors could suddenly come together and start causing a global autism epidemic at this precise moment in time. Vaccines are the only explanation.

Yes, the latest CDC numbers that give the autism prevalence rate of 1 in 88 is from a study of 8 yrs old in 2008. Why they have to wait 3 to 4 years to give these numbers is also very suspicious. http://www.cdc.gov/features/countingautism/

The article features a little boy with severe autism who cannot carry on a normal conversation (although he has thankfully made gains in speech and language). You have to read it! Incidentally, what year are the latest CDC figures from? I thought around 2006?

Hey Jen, what is the article about? I tried looking online but couldn't find anything. Yes, Anne is amazing! I think in the fight against vaccines her approach will be proven to be the most effective. To get through to our elected officials we need to erode the public's trust in vaccines. We are starting to see this. To think that nearly half of the population are so skeptical that they will delay or pass on at least one of their child's vaccines. This is really a big thing! The net is a powerful means for fostering this distrust and I think it would be great if we could support Anne. I did not see much takers, but I am definitely on board.

Big front page article in Calgary Herald today! Haven't read it yet, though.
Agreed that Anne is amazing, Greg! It must be so hard for her to 'stomach' some of the commenters. I know I can't some of the time.

Why is it that autism is the only medical condition where we see this vitriol towards the kids and families and tough questions re cost/benefit analysis? Can you imagine an article saying that we should not pay for treatments for kids with cancer or elderly people with bad hearts and numerous other health conditions? ABA is about as unproven as braille is for blind people, by the way even the AAP and the US Surgeon General endorse it. It is bad enough that this disorder was created and continues with the blessing of pharma, the medical establishment and government, but now they add insult to injury by not paying for the damamge that they have caused to these kids. Easier to blame (and conveniently waste more research money) all those old, SSRI consuming, fat or skinny (depending on the study), freeway adjacent dwelling refrigerator mothers and fathers.

The real problem, as Anne has pointed out many times, is that there are too many kids with autism. The insurance companies in my state are seriously cracking down on the mandate, denying medical necessity, hired an outside firm to manage costs (deny services, get around the law, slash reimbursement rates). It's not that the treatments are too expensive, it's that there are too many kids getting the treatments. I doubt insurance would care if 1 out of 1000 kids had autism. In the end, it won't be the insurance companies that lose, it will be the people with autism and their families. Those of us who live in states with mandates and have our children in intensive services- we are on borrowed time.

how about a t-shirt with "america's a free country how about
free to decline vaccines. ???"
They have side effects and are NOT liable. ( that usually
makes people's ears perk up- You can't sue, even for death ?
Wearing my little merc. poisoning t-shirt is just a little dig, but at least I feel I'm doing something against this monster of
phama/gov/med. Just wish I could think of something short and not-so-sweet to put on a shirt and I would make it myself.
Maybe a slogan contest???

Guys and girls, I am really encouraged by how Anne through her blogs take the fight against vaccines to the common person who may be debating vaccines. I mentioned in a previous post how we should feel good that a quarter of the population now believe vaccination is responsible for autism, and nearly half are skipping or delaying vaccines. We should continue to foster this distrust since the more hearts and minds we win the harder it will for our public officials to defend them. To this point, how many of you are willing to help Anne by committing to searching out autism stories on the net and dropping an anti-vax comment here and there? I know some of you are already doing this, but the more the merrier.

Also AoA, in keeping with this ground war, have you guys thought of organizing a graphic department that prints t shirts, mugs, bumper stickers, etc, with our messages such as, 'Vaccines -- Do the research', or 'Vaccines -- A shot in the dark'? I would be the first to order one.

.13% of children in this Norway study have autism. Compare this to Utah, where the rate is over 2%. This claim is that "rounding" , autism affects only 1 child in 850. Now where do the other numbers come from. .2% not on folate developed autism. May I ask two tenths of a percent of what? How many took folate? If it was .2 percent of the entire number it would be 170 children, well, clearly they said only 114 of the entire group had autism. If it suggests that among the 114 that .2 percent didn't take folate and developed autism, that wouldn't be ONE child. HELP..If two thirds of the victims didn't take folate, that would break it down to 76 to 38. Shouldn't we look at the fact that almost 99.9 percent of the children in Norway do not get autism, let's find out their vaccine schedule, this is just stupid!

Aren't most U.S. women already taking prenatal vitamins containing folic acid, in large part to prevent Spina Bifida: a condition also considered to be both genetic and environmental, for which obesity and diabetes seem to be risk factors, as well as high fevers or sauna use in the early weeks of prenancy, and for some reason severe spina bifida is frequently co-morbid with latex allergy?

ABA therapy is the ONLY intervention that's been scientifically associated with positive outcomes in autism. Pharmaceutics have not been proven and neither has public education. We also do dietary and nutritional interventions but I'm not holding my breath on having those covered anytime in the next few decades. Our son's ABA coverage represents $75,000/year to us - an amount we could never afford otherwise.